EU policy considers that after finishing secondary school, young people should either obtain a job or enter further education and training: if not, they should receive appropriate support through active labour market or social measures.

To consider the benefit of IVET further, the indicator here compares the employment rates of VET graduates (20-34 year-olds with a vocational qualification at ISCED 3-4 as their highest level of education attainment) with the employment rate of those with a lower level of education; that is, those with at most lower secondary qualifications (ISCED 0-2).

Indicator 2065: short cycle VET graduates as a percentage of first time tertiary education graduates

A key EU policy aim is to have a highly skilled and qualified population and labour force. Increasing the EU average share of 30-34 year-olds with education attainment at tertiary level is one target of the Europe 2020 strategy.

Indicator 2040: average number of foreign languages learned in IVET in upper secondary education

Knowledge of foreign languages enables individuals to move freely and successfully between education programmes in different Member States and also permits individuals to pursue employment in different countries.